


The Lovely Form of the Beloved

by irisadler



Series: Sensorium [16]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Established Relationship, Introspection, M/M, Memories, post-proposal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-04
Updated: 2019-08-04
Packaged: 2020-07-30 13:47:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20098186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/irisadler/pseuds/irisadler
Summary: On the night they return from Edom, Alec lies awake and contemplates the man he loves. Set during 3x21.





	The Lovely Form of the Beloved

**Author's Note:**

> The last installment of my ficlet battle with the magnificent [la_muerta](http://la-muerta.tumblr.com/)! (Check out the rest of their incredible fics [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16149902/chapters/37734770)!)
> 
> This time, we had the same prompt: touch. (And I think this one managed to give us both more trouble than the rest combined!)
> 
> Much love to the awesome [stupidnephilimlove](https://archiveofourown.org/users/stupidnephilimlove/pseuds/stupidnephilimlove) and [Taupefox59](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Taupefox59/pseuds/Taupefox59) for giving me feedback on this!
> 
> And finally, many thanks to la muerta for doing this with me! You are awesome, and your writing skills and general badassery leave me awestruck on a regular basis. I feel lucky to know you and even luckier to get to do any kind of writing thing with you! <3

Despite his exhaustion, Alec can’t fall asleep. If he were at the Institute, he might get up, might do some paperwork or take on a punching bag. But here in Magnus’ loft on their first night together after returning from Edom? Nothing could be further from Alec’s mind than the thought of getting out of bed.

Instead, he stays still, watching Magnus sleep, synchronising his own breaths with the rise and fall of Magnus’ chest.

Alec’s thoughts wander, the relief of reunion making him sentimental as he thinks about this magical man he gets to call his fiancé and the privilege of being loved by Magnus Bane. He smiles to himself. 

There’s a complexity to the person Magnus is and the way he expresses care. Even something as simple as touch is an infinite variety with Magnus, something with a thousand meanings depending on how it’s expressed.

Alec’s eyes drift along one carelessly outflung arm down to where Magnus’ hand rests on Alec’s stomach, to the way those long, clever fingers curl, caught somewhere between open and closed and beckoning.

Alec’s been mesmerised since the first moment he saw Magnus do magic. Watching those graceful hands move in elegant patterns had made Alec feel things he never thought he’d be able to explore. But there had been something fundamentally different about feeling those hands against his skin, on his body… about the sensation of Magnus’ hand slipping into his, fingers intertwining with his own. A perfect fit.

Magnus moves in his sleep, hitching his leg up over Alec’s, his toes brushing Alec’s calf as he makes himself comfortable. Alec smiles.

With Magnus, Alec has explored things he’d only dreamed of - and some that had never come up even in his wildest fantasies. He now has a long list of kinks he and Magnus share, and there are others they’ve explored for curiosity’s sake. Alec has learned, for example, that he doesn’t have a thing for feet. Sexually, at least, they don’t do a damn thing for him. But the first night Alec had come home to Magnus’ loft instead of the Institute, Magnus had pulled him to the sofa, curling up against the arm of the couch and tucking his chilly toes under Alec’s thigh, and Alec had never in his life felt quite as much at home as in that moment.

The city lights find their way in through the bedroom window, and Alec admires the play of the colours on Magnus’ skin. Magnus’ shoulders are broader than Alec’s, his arms thick with muscles. But his chest, well. Alec thinks he might like Magnus’ chest best. It’s strong and solid and perfect for cushioning Alec’s cheek. But more than that, Magnus’ chest houses the well-developed muscle and steady, dependable beat of Magnus’ heart, one of Alec’s favourite sounds, if not his favourite sound in the world.

Magnus moves again. From the way his eyelids move and his eyelashes flutter, he must be dreaming. Alec thinks of his eyes, now hidden away in sleep.

Whether they’re the deep dark brown of his glamour or Magnus’ fantastical cat eyes, Alec loves Magnus’ eyes and thinks they’re a wonder. But there’s just _ something _ about looking into Magnus’ natural slit pupils and luminous irises. Alec feels he could gaze into them forever, get lost in the deep golden glow, caught and held by Magnus’ beauty.

Magnus has always seen Alec in a way no one else has, has always seen right to the heart of him. And when Magnus looks at him, Alec feels that gaze like a physical touch. He feels Magnus’ care, Magnus’ warmth, the way Magnus sees him and knows him and, even so, Magnus _ loves _ him, which may be the most beautiful thing of all.

Thinking of Magnus’ eyes always leads Alec to contemplate that aspect of Magnus they had to do without for some time recently: his magic.

Magnus’ magic has enthralled Alec from the start. Magnus is unbelievably graceful when he does magic, whether it’s conjuring a portal or casting a spell. There’s a grace to his movements, an athleticism that makes Alec’s mouth go dry and his fingers twitch a little as he fights the desire to _ touch. _

And when Magnus’ magic brushes Alec’s skin, it’s a unique experience. Now, he’s accustomed to it, but the first time he’d entered the loft as an invited visitor and had felt Magnus’ wards passing over his skin, Alec had gasped aloud at the warm, tingling sensation he had felt. It had felt like… welcome, like home. Like _ Magnus _ in some indefinable way.

That feeling has only strengthened over time. Magnus says it’s because his magic is a part of him and that all of him knows Alec, loves Alec, seeks to protect Alec. And Alec knows it to be true. He’s felt it.

When they fight side by side, Magnus’ magic will scorch and destroy anyone in its path… but bypass Alec entirely or leave him unharmed but for a flush on his cheeks from its heat. And when they kiss and touch, when they hold each other, when they fuck, Magnus’ magic is a part of that too, as tender and loving and passionate as Magnus himself.

Magnus’ magic is an extension of himself, of the way he loves and cares for others. For Alec, in particular. It’s an embodiment of the way Magnus cherishes him, and Alec will never take that for granted.

“‘Lexander?”

Magnus’ sleepy voice breaks through Alec’s reverie. Now open, those incredible golden eyes blink sleepily up at him, Magnus’ brow creased in drowsy confusion.

Alec smiles.

“Go back to sleep, love,” he murmurs, leaning down and pressing his lips to Magnus’, giving back with the touch that’s only ever belonged to Magnus. His kiss.

And, as Magnus cuddles close with a sigh of satisfaction, Alec finds that sleep isn’t so distant anymore. 

This time, it’s not long before Alec drifts off, a smile on his face, intertwined with the man he loves.

**Author's Note:**

> One day in spring, a [man] came  
In my lonely woods,  
In the lovely form of the Beloved.  
Came, to give to my songs, melodies,  
To give to my dreams, sweetness.  
Suddenly a wild wave  
Broke over my heart's shores  
And drowned all language.  
To my lips no name came,  
[He] stood beneath the tree, turned,  
Glanced at my face, made sad with pain,  
And with quick steps, came and sat by me.  
Taking my hands in [his], [he] said:  
'You do not know me, nor I you—  
I wonder how this could be?'  
I said:  
'We two shall build, a bridge for ever  
Between two beings, each to the other unknown,  
This eager wonder is at the heart of things.'
> 
> \- Rabindranath Tagore, One Day in Spring...


End file.
